wear the trousers
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English[edit]
Verb[edit]
wear the trousers (third-person singular simple present wears the trousers, present participle wearing the trousers, simple past wore the trousers, past participle worn the trousers)
- (British, idiomatic) (typically of a woman) To be the dominant partner in a relationship.
- Synonyms: rule the roost, wear the breeches, (US) wear the pants
- 1987, Martin L. Gore (lyrics and music), “Never Let Me Down Again”, in Music for the Masses, performed by Depeche Mode:
- As long as I remember who's wearing the trousers / I hope he never lets me down again
- 1988, John Rowan, Windy Dryden, Innovative Therapy in Britain, page 246:
- His mother wore the trousers, and father, a gentle man who worked in local government, was not ambitious enough for her.
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see wear, trouser.
Translations[edit]
to be the dominant partner
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